The Cuckoo’s Calling

Two weeks ago, the publishing world was rocked by the news that The Cuckoo’s Calling – supposedly a debut mystery novel written by one “Robert Galbraith” – was in fact the handiwork of Harry Potter’s creator, J. K. Rowling. Why did Rowling choose to wrap herself in the invisibility cloak of a nom de plume? She may have been eager to avoid the unreasonably high expectations (and concomitantly dismal notices) that overshadowed last year’s The Casual Vacancy, her first stand-alone …